


Work In Progress

by DetectiveSarcasm



Category: Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (Cartoon 2018), Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles - All Media Types
Genre: Angst, Arguing, Bombing, Drama, Gen, Hurt Leo, Hurt/Comfort, Leonardo as the leader, Raph is Grumpy, Sibling Bonding, but he means well
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-17
Updated: 2020-07-17
Packaged: 2021-03-05 03:15:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,326
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25343812
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DetectiveSarcasm/pseuds/DetectiveSarcasm
Summary: Leonardo has been the leader for three years now; but, his older brother isn't too keen on making Leo's life any easier. It isn't too much to ask Raph to follow his lead when needed, or to even back off with the leadership advice, right? So, Leo leaves it alone. He has bigger fish to fry, anyway.After a bomb is set off, Raph needs to work with his Leader on how to get both of them home safe; and hopefully not hurting Leo even more in the process.
Comments: 6
Kudos: 96





	Work In Progress

**Author's Note:**

> Okay so they might be slightly out of character, but this is more of a character study with the 2018 turtles. I know that one of the creators said that Leo had his spunky attitude before he became leader, but I also want him to have it even after he becomes leader. So, with that being said, I am making a quick two-shot about how Raph and Leo are going to work together as a team, with the dynamics switched. Raph is still the big brother - but now Leo is the leader. 
> 
> Also, this is one of the longest chapters I've ever written.

It was rare these days for Splinter to let them leave the layer at night. Due to the increase in all things evil, their dad had little to no trust that they would come back home safely. However, Leo knew the chances of them coming back injured due to fighting between the Foot, Big Mama, or even Purple Dragons were slim to none. One night, he’d have to get Donnie to speak his mumbo jumbo to dad about the statistics of them being harmed. Plus, they were 19 now – well give or take on Raph and Mikey – but that aside, they weren’t kids anymore. They all had a good head on their shoulders and were smart ninjas. Besides, pops had taught them well over the 4 years about his tricks and flips. They were able to take better care of themselves than any other 19-year-old.

“So,” a gruff voice spoke up from behind Leo. “Why did you bring us out here, oh fearless one?”

Leo held back a groan of annoyance and rolled his eyes ever so slightly, before turning to Raph. With a shrug, Leo rubbed the back of his neck and laughed halfheartedly. “We needed to get out of the layer. Dads been down our shells lately and I think there was too much pent-up energy – that’s all.”

“Pent up-” Raph blinked and then crosses his arms. “Leo, you brought us out here for a little R&R?”

Leo watched as Raph’s left eye twitched under his mask. _Midlife crisis?_ He questioned. No, obviously not. His older brother had been stingy lately. Lately meaning 3 years, but that was beside the point. Sure, their bickering has turned into a few explosive fights lately. Plus, whenever an order is issued, the snapping turtle seems to question the thought process. Donnie says it could be because of Raphael’s genes. Leo thinks it’s because he's older brother has been bitter since his leadership crown was bestowed to Leo.

“I mean we can,” Leo shrugged, and watches Mikey’s eyes widen slightly before taking a few steps back away from Raph.

“Leo,” Raph holds back a growl, but the big man hardly hides his irritation.

 _The night just started,_ Leo thinks sadly. “…Raph?” Leo draws out, hoping their conversation is going to end on a high note.

“Wouldn’t a leader suggest a training run?” The snapping turtle turns his head to the right slightly, and he squints his eyes, testing the leader.

Leo paused and wondered if he should feed into the trap Raph knows he is coaxing him into. In all honesty, Leonardo wasn’t one to antagonize his brothers – as of late. He was more childish in his early teenage years, but since that night, Leo has tried collecting himself and being better – for them. The only thing, however, is Raph. The eldest slips into these moods of questions and accusations; and sometimes, Leo can’t hold back his childish behavior. _You shouldn’t poke the bear;_ he can hear Donnie groan in the back of his mind.

“I mean, _a_ leader would.” Leo puts both palms to the sky and shrugs once more. He really just wants to be a kid again, no worries, no responsibilities, no angry Raph. “Not every night is a training night.”

Raph looks to the side, he grumbles under his breath – something about being ninjas and training – but Leo blows that off. Donnie walks up to his right and sighs quietly. “Now that we have the annual bickering concluded, what is the plan. I am always one to get out from dad's gaze but coming out here for no reason seems irrational.”

“That, my brother,” Leo swings his arm around his twin and points towards the open rooftops. “Is the whole point.”

“I don’t get it,” Don mutters.

“Some nights need to be unexpected,” Leo throws his arm off of Donnie and pushes him in the shoulder. “We work with what we’ve got. Stop a few crimes, bicker a bit, and then head home with four pizza pies. The best nights are the unplanned nights.”

“Oh,” Mikey pats Raph on the shoulder, “so there is no plan.”

“Exactly,” Leo throws his hands in the air and a smile grows on his orange banded brother.

With that, the open air is silent. The wind picks up the tails of Leo’s mask and the four brothers hear a distant scream of a man. “And I believe that is our signal.” The scream dampens to the east of them and, without a word, Leon hops off their perch of an apartment building and heads towards the impending danger. He doesn’t have to say a word to know Donnie and Mikey have followed his lead without question; but with a quick glance back, he notices Raph has dropped his shoulders and paused before following the band of brothers.

They come to a halt in front of an ice cream shop. Men, women, and even young teenagers are shuffling out of the shop with large boxes. Leo looks closer and the side of the boxes is branded with large red letters: PEANUTS.

“Peanuts,” Mikey murmurs to his left and characteristically rubs his chin. “Do you think someone has a peanut allergy?”

“Could be,” Leo muttered back.

“That would be a negative,” Donnie typed quickly on his arm computer thing. Leo never understood what that innovation was. Obviously, a computer, right? I mean his twin typed on it like a keyboard and was able to control his other inventions through it. But Leon wasn’t tech-savvy and did not want to hear Dons' long explanation of his technology. So, he left it alone and was positive his brother knew what he was doing. “It looks like a shipment of ammo and artilleries.”

 _Shit,_ Leo pushed his childish retort back and swiftly put his thinking cap on. Guns were something new to him and his brothers. They had come across the weapons before, Mikey had been shot in the shoulder and that resulted in Leo panicking. His mind went blank. Luckily, their bigger brother was able to hulk them out of there and they made it back to the layer. However, that was when they had their mystic weapons.

They don’t now.

“Leo?” A voice called out to his left, “what do we do?”

Blinking, the leader, forced himself to focus and looked at the screen on Don’s wrist. “The scream? Does it look like there is anyone in trouble?”

“ _You’re_ thinking about going in there?” Raph snapped from behind. Leo averted his gaze from Don and turned around to face his big brother.

“If someone’s in trouble,” the leader’s voice deepened. “Then, yes, _we_ are.”

“You remember what happened last time, right?” Raph crossed his arms. The two eldest began their annual glare off. Neither moved, each testing one another to say anything out of line.

“Raphael,” Leo warned darkly. _We don’t have time for this,_ Leon thought forebodingly. If his brother was going to dismiss his plan, then Leo would leave him behind. In situations like these, he didn’t need his brother testing his patients, nor his leadership. The blue-banded turtle was given this position because their father believed he was a natural leader. While Leo never wanted this control, he knew what their dad meant. It was the highest position in their clan, but more than anything, it was a place of protection. He could plan around the impossible outcomes and make sure his brothers came out alright.

“They have a group of people held hostage,” Donnie spoke up. Leo looked away from his hot-headed brother and looked at where Don was pointing. Three people to be exact; an older man, a woman, and a young girl. Men surrounded the three, guns pointed in the faces of the hostages. The girl looked scared, her face buried in the older man’s right arm. Around them, the group of armed militias continued opening boxes that had been delivered to the shop, then sent them out the back door. Don clicked to another security feed, studying the faces of each individual.

In front of them, the group was loading box after box into a large truck. From this angle, Leo could tell that they had already filled the vehicle halfway. _Well, this isn’t good,_ Leo thought with a growl. “It looks like they’re preparing for an all-out war,” Mikey stated, leaning closer to the edge. “But here?” Looking at his brothers, the youngest placed his hands on his nunchaku. “In the city?”

“This can’t be good,” Leo muttered and rubbed the side of his head.

“It’s not,” Donnie replied. Pushing his screen in front of Leo. “You see that big man right there?” On the monitor, a large burly man pointed to the back door after inspecting each PEANUT box. From the back, Leo could tell the man stood over six feet tall, his shoulder-length just as wide. The man had the tattoo of a red dragon soaring down his right arm. He turned to the side, his face pausing on the screen as his blond braid tipped over his shoulder.

“Fuck,” Leon muttered.

“Language,” Raph nips.

“Hun,” Donnie corrects and turned off his screen.

The turtles had come in contact with Hun last time they had encountered guns; in fact, he was the one that had shot at Mikey – making the turtles scatter. They could just leave the hostages and forget about the night, but they all knew they couldn’t leave defenseless people.

They would have to intervene.

Don was the only one that would be able to erase the footage once they jumped into action, so his brother would be occupied, and Mikey worked best with hysterical humans. Leo’s best option right now was to send his purple and orange-clad brothers to the other side and help the hostages. Raphael needed to burn off some steam, so Leo and his older brother would work on distracting the militia from his other brothers. Once the data that had the turtles was erased, he would need Don to send the information to the police. They could handle the hostages, and the police could handle these crazy gun maniacs.

“Mike, Don,” Leonardo ordered. His voice took a dimmer octave, his youngest brother liked to say that he had a natural leadership voice, Leo thought it sounded the same – just less cheerful. “You two are going to go around and help the hostages. Don, while Mikey is helping the group, you need to make sure we never showed up on the footage.”

His brothers chipped in acknowledgment, and Raph gave a curt grunt behind him. Turning to his older brother, Leo clapped him on the shoulder. “We are going to distract them. Quickly. We don’t have time to deal real damage, but we have enough time to divert them.” Leo looks back at his other brothers, “Once I give the signal, we all jump into action. If we come in contact with anything new, we leave.”

All three of his brothers, surprisingly, give a brisk nod. With knowledge of the plan, the brothers jump down and split into their respective parties. Mikey and Don quickly leave their side as Raph follows Leo into the top hatch of the building. They slip quietly into the shadows of the ceiling and wait for the signal that their brothers have made it to their position. “What do you think they’re planning?” Raph whispers behind Leo.

“I think Mikey was right,” Leo responds back. “It looks like they may be preparing for a war within the city.” He sees a flash of a mirror, _they’re in position._ “If Hun is involved, then that means it’s going to end poorly for almost everyone in the city.”

“It’s almost like they’re getting ready for a turf war,” Raph mutters. His hand lands on Leo’s shoulder and squeezes tightly. “I don’t think we should get mixed up between them and whoever they’re against.”

Leo paused, “We need to talk to dad about this. Maybe he knows who is against them if this is a turf war. But right now, Raph, we need to help those people.” With that, he holds up his right hand and silences his brother before he can say anything else. His command is met with an exhale of frustration. Leo grabs ahold of the wall and smirks; “Let’s do this,” he whispers, and his brother follows his lead. Jumping down, Leo lands softly on his toes, rolling quietly over his shell, Raph lands harder than his red-eared slider brother but manages to draw no attention. Grabbing ahold of his two katana blades and standing up slowly, Leo steps out of the shadows. “Ah, the Jersey crew is back!” He calls out and everyone in the back of the shop stops their respective jobs.

Hun’s head falls back and he groans loudly, “You damn turtles.” He turns, his arms flying up in an exaggerated motion, “and how many times do I have to tell you, blue, we _aren’t_ from Jersey!”

“Wait,” Leo mocks back slowly. His katanas dropping slightly as he looks physically upset, “why _didn’t_ you tell me!”

A gun clicks in front of him and one of Hun’s henchmen marks his assault rifle at Leo. “Also, how many times do I have to tell you, blue, you _aren’t_ funny.”

“Okay, that one hurt,” Leo snaps back dejectedly. Before the militia reacts, Raph barrels past Leo and straight at Hun. _Distraction is not in his nature;_ Leo thinks with a groan before jumping forward as well. He watches as his older brother rams into Hun, so the blue-banded turtle turns towards the scared looking henchmen. With a quick jump, Leo is flying above the men and women, he lands perfectly in the middle of a group and listens to one hold up a handgun in fear. With a quick slice of his katana, he nails the frightened woman across fingers and cuts them open. She falls back, started and hurt. Others react with a yell in anger. They barrel forward, almost ten taking him from all sides. Yet, they’re sloppy and untrained. Leo kicks two back as he cuts across a group of three.

Placing both katanas back in their sheath, Leo holds up his fists; because while he could kill them quickly – it would be easier to frighten and injure them before his brothers are ready to disappear (he also isn’t a fan of killing unless absolutely necessary). He hears a scream to his right and a man with a hunting knife is running at him. Leo disarms him quickly, wrapping his arms around the man, he uses his strength to send the man into a crowd of his own. A woman punches the air and Leo carelessly kicks her. She disappears as two take her place, they both have their handguns trained on him. Before they let off a shot, Leo ducks down, his movement bowls into them and jumps off of their dazed forms before landing on the shoulders of another. His weight is too much for the man and he stumbles forward, falling face-first into the cement. Leo hops off and lands outside the now confused circle of henchmen. _That was too easy,_ Leon thinks to himself. Yet, instead of feeling confident, something sends an uneasy feeling down his shell.

Leo turns to Raph and Hun. His brother has the man in a fist match, and a few cuts from his brother's sai litter the large man's naked arms. “Hey, Hun!” Leo calls out, “where the hell did you get these guys?”

“Language,” Raph gruffly replies and delivers a hard punch to Hun’s cheek.

“I mean,” Leo looks behind him as the man with the hunting knife is running at him again. He waits for the bloke to get close enough before grabbing onto his wrist and twists. He feels their wrist crack at the odd angle, and the man drops to the ground screaming. Leo looks back up, trying to remember what he was going to say. “…I mean they suck.”

Hun is on his hands and knees, one palm holding his cheek as he looks at the leader with a glare. “They’re new,” he growls but stays on the ground. Raph puts his sai’s away before glancing at Leo in question.

Leaving the pile of groaning henchmen behind, Leo walks up to Hun and crouches down in front of the man. “Why would you bring them on this job if they’re new?” The leader felt his stomach turn slightly, something wasn’t right. He looks to Raph before his phone lets off a beep. Glancing to it, Donnie has sent him a message.

_**D:** The tapes are wiped, and Mikey was able to convince the three that we were just masked vigilantes. Though they kept talking about how much therapy is going to cost – so I’m not too sure they were well convinced._

_**L:** Can you go get us a pizza? I’m done with tonight._

_**D:** I’m not made of money you know_

_**L:** Bullshit_

Placing his phone back into his pocket, Leo glances at Raph and gives him a curt nod. “Well, it has been fun, Hun.” Leo claps Raph on the arm and the two turn to leave.

As they prepare to leave the way they came, Hun sits back and calls out, “They’re disposable.”

Leo comes to a halt, waiting. He turns, his brother taking steps in front of him protectively. “Leo,” Raph mumbles to him as the two-step closer. “Something isn’t right here.”

Leo reaches back and places his hand on one of his katana’s hilts, “That’s a shitty way of taking care of your men.” Raph and Leo exchange another questionable glance as the large man reaches back into his pocket. “What are you planning, Hun? Why are you gathering so much ammunition? Why the so-called ‘disposable’ men?”

Hun looks up, his gaze bland and shoulders shaking slightly. “I don’t like getting rid of men so easily, but the boss wanted ones that we could throw away.” He stands, hand pulling out a remote with too many buttons. Damnit, if he didn’t send Donnie away, the Brainiac could figure this one out. “Turns out,” Hun continues, his shoulders rolling back as he pops his neck. “The boss doesn’t like you four, already.”

“Harsh,” Leo whispered to Raph, his brother answered with a scowl.

Ticking started behind them. Raph turned and tried to find the location of the new noise. Leo kept his eyes trained on Hun; his fingers still next to the hilt of his katana. “You know,” Hun sniveled, his thumb scratching the tip of his nose. “You both are so annoying-”

“Leo,” Raph grabbed the leader’s shoulder and squeezed.

“But, blue, you were at least entertaining.”

“Leo – they have bombs.”

The blue ninja stopped, his mind running with the recent information. “Fuck,” he turned to Raph and pushed his shoulder. “We have to get out - _go_.”

Raph nodded curtly, his eyes trained on the ceiling where they came out and jumped. Leo was about to follow suit, but a hand wrapped around his ankle. The man with the hunting knife gripped tightly and blood stained his teeth. “Get the hell off,” Leo growled deeply and kicked out, shaking the man’s grip. His attention shot to Raph, his brother looked back at the same time and they exchanged a quick look of desperation. Leo gave a glance back to Hun, but the man was gone.

Leo force himself to move, he jumped towards his brother, feet kicking off against the ground and touching a few boxes before landing next to his brother. His arm reached out, hands clasping together as Raph helped hoist up his brother.

A second later he was pulled down.

A force jerked him back, warmth burned his caves and a scream ripped out of his brother’s throat. Leo watched as Raph disappeared behind a haze of heat and darkness enveloped his world.


End file.
